Draft apparatus.



No. 831,851. PATENTED SEPT. 18, 1906. H. JOHNS.

DRAFT APPARATUS.

I APPLICATION FILED APR.17. 1905.

NYE/WM [fonwe (johns ATTORNEYS 1m: ivonms PETERS so. WASHINGTON. o. c.

HORACE JOHNS, OF TROY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO STEPHEN A. JOHNS, OF

TROY, PENNSYLVANIA.

DRAFT AFlPAnATus.

Specification of Letters Patent.

, Patented Sept.18, 1906.

Application filed April 17,1905- Serial No. 255,954.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, I'IORACE JonNs, a citii zen of the United States, and a resident of Troy, in the county of Bradford and State of Pennsylvania, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Draft Apparatus, of i which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in draft apparatus designed for immediate use for all kinds of hitching on farms, in lumber woods, or elsewhere where it is desired to readily connect the timber with the load; and the invention consists in certain novel constructions and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed. a

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view, parts being broken away, showing the doubletree or evener and the whiffletree and connections with said parts. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view showing the doublehook construction in connection with the swivel-bolt at the rear and middle of the evener. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view showing the hook and swivel at the middle and rear of one of the swingletrees, and Fig. 4 is a detail top plan view showing one of the staples on the evener-bar for connection with one of the hooks on the swingletree.

The evener A and the swingletrees B may be of wood of suitable size to furnish the necessary strength. To the evener A at its middle I secure at its rear side the plate C and at its front the plate D. The plate 0 is secured by the bolts E and F, which extend through the evener, and the inner bolts F secure at their front ends the front plate D, the latter being provided at the front of the evener with the 'loop D, through which may pass a kingbolt when the draft attachment is used on a pole or tongue.

The back plate 0 is offset rearwardly at its middle at C and in the offset portion is swiveled at G the eyebolt G, having at its outer end the eye Gr and provided at its inner end with the head G a washer Gr being interposed between said head G and the offset portion 0 of the back plate C, as best shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Hooks H and H are connected with the eye G preferably through the medium of a ring I, passing through the shanks of the hooks H and H and through the eye- G as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. This double hook construction is preferred, as thereby I one of the hooks may be hitched onto a chain without the necessity of separate hooks on the chain, and the other hooks may be used for wrapping logs or timber. It will be understood that in operation a log may roll and the swivelwill turn, so that there is no danger of draft apparatus getting twisted up when the team is hitchedthereto.

Staple-loops J are provided on the front side of the evener A near its opposite ends for engagement by the hooks K at the middle of the swingletrees B, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. These hooks K connect with the eyes L of bolts L, which swivel in the offset portions M of plates M, secured to swingletrees B, and

having the washers L arranged between their heads L and the offset portions M of the plates M, as shown in Fig. 1.

The hooks K are provided near their points with the link-latches N, pivoted at N to the hooks and normally closing the hooks, as shown in Fig. 3. When these hooks K are engaged with the staples J, as shown in Fig. 1, the link-latches N prevent any accidental detachment of the hooks from the said staples, and the parts cannot be detached eX- cept by lifting the swingletrees to approximately a right angle with the evener.

It will be noticed, especially from Fig. 1, that the staples J are elongated slightly in the direction of draft and also that the linklatches are so related as to width to the width of the staples J that in order to insert the hooks in and. remove them from the staples it is necessary to turn the hooks around to a position about as shown in the detail plan view, Fig. 4, as the width of the link-latches will prevent the application of the hooks in any other adjustment of the said parts.

The construction is simple, easily applied for use, and can be adjusted for use in almost every location where a draft apparatus of the sort is desired.

The attachment on the back of the evener might be extended to reach from one loopbolt to the other for very heavy teams and teaming; but this will not be necessary for any ordinary work, as they are very strong and usually give perfect satisfaction as they are.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The draft apparatus herein described comprising the evener having at its rear side at its middle the offset back plate and at its front side at its middle the front plate provided with the forwardly-projecting loop for a king-bolt, the eyebolt swiveled in the ofiset portion of the back plate and provided in said offset portion with a head and with a washer-bearing between the same and the plate and in rear of the plate with the eye and with the double hooks connected therewith, the staples at the front side of the evener near its opposite ends and elongated in the direction of draft, the swingletrees, the offset plates at the rear side of said swin letrees, the eyebolts swiveled in said ofiset plates, the hooks connected with said eyebolts and the link-latches for closing said hooks, said link-latches being of such width relative to the width of the staples of the evener as to preclude the application and removal of the hooks from said staples except in certain adjustments of the parts substantially as set forth.

2. The draft apparatus substantially as herein described consisting of the evener-bar having at its rear side at its middle the offset back plate, an eyebolt swiveled therein and a plurality of hooks connected with said eyebolt, and provided at its front side midway between its ends with a loop for a king-bolt andat its opposite ends at its front side with the staples and the swingletrees provided at their rear sides with the hooks for connection with said staples and with the latches for plosing the said hooks, substantially as set orth.

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JOHNS.

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HORACE 

